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2016 SESSION

16104058D
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 90
Offered January 25, 2016
Commending Elizabeth S. Tai.
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Patron-- Helsel
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WHEREAS, Elizabeth S. Tai, who has worked to meet the informational, educational, and cultural needs of the community as director of the Poquoson Public Library for more than 35 years, retired January 29, 2016; and

WHEREAS, Elizabeth Tai began a long and fulfilling career as a librarian in 1967; she worked in libraries in New York, Ohio, and Georgia, before becoming director of the Poquoson Public Library in 1979; and

WHEREAS, during Elizabeth Tai’s tenure as executive director, the Poquoson Public Library achieved accreditation by the Library of Virginia, and she worked with the Friends of the Poquoson Public Library and other local organizations to facilitate expansion and relocation to the current facility on City Hall Avenue; and

WHEREAS, Elizabeth Tai helped the Poquoson Public Library become one of the busiest and most highly respected libraries in the country, with rates of patron visits per capita and item circulation per capita that are more than double state and national averages; and

WHEREAS, under Elizabeth Tai’s leadership, the Poquoson Public Library was named the third-best library in the Commonwealth in 2002, received the grand prize in the national Love Your Library contest in 2015, and was nominated for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service in 2012; and

WHEREAS, Elizabeth Tai earned many awards and accolades for her exceptional stewardship of the Poquoson Public Library, including the 1983 City of Poquoson Outstanding Employee of the Year award and the 2004 Virginia Public Library Directors Association Outstanding Library Director award, and she is deeply respected by her peers in the field of library science; and

WHEREAS, offering her sage guidance to numerous other civic and service organizations, Elizabeth Tai has worked to strengthen the community as a charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Tabb, chair of the Peninsula Chinese American Association board and Virginia Peninsula Retired Senior Volunteer Program board, and longtime volunteer for the American Red Cross Language Bank; and

WHEREAS, Elizabeth Tai holds a bachelor’s degree from National Cheng Kung University in China and a master’s degree from Texas Woman’s University; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Elizabeth S. Tai hereby be commended on the occasion of her retirement as director of the Poquoson Public Library; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Elizabeth S. Tai as an expression of the House of Delegates’ admiration for her work to make the City of Poquoson a community of readers.